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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28495641">new year's day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingpineapples/pseuds/dancingpineapples'>dancingpineapples</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SPY x FAMILY (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Family Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, New Year's Eve, forger family festivities, semi song fic, twilight is a soft boi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:20:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,454</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28495641</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingpineapples/pseuds/dancingpineapples</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>twilight doesn't see the point in celebrating new years as a holiday. you don't celebrate the beginning of a new day or a new week, so what made this any different? it is a time to reflect though, and yor and anya occupy more of his thoughts than he had anticipated.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anya Forger &amp; Loid Forger | Twilight &amp; Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Loid Forger | Twilight/Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>66</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>new year's day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>heyooo happy new year and yay for 2021!! this is like a semi song fic bc it more or less inspired by the song and especially the lines "please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere" and "i'll be cleaning up bottles with you on new years day". anyways ty for reading and pls enjoy &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>After a mostly uneventful Christmas, writing off the three times Bond knocked over the tree, Yor almost burning their Christmas dinner, and Anya somehow predicting every present she received, Twilight was satisfied with the memories they made. He probably took enough photographs to fill an entire photo album, he thought. His missions led him all over the world, and he’d seen all the famous landmarks and views, and yet, the smiles on Anya and Yor’s faces that morning still had them beat as the prettiest sight he’d ever seen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Anya loved each and every one of the Spy Wars toys she received, and Yor was pleasantly surprised by the perfume and earrings she received from him and Anya. Likewise, he was taken aback by how genuinely touched he was when Anya handed him two somewhat shoddily wrapped presents. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While a tie and a pair of leather gloves were rather utilitarian presents, Twilight could recognize the amount of care the two of them had put into choosing them. It only hit him later that the tie was identical to Bondman’s tie. When he mentioned that to Yor, as he was surprised about it, she replied rather matter of factly. “Oh, well, it makes sense, doesn’t it? Her real life hero and her fictional hero?” He tucked those words away, to consider for a later date. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For Twilight, New Year’s Eve was just another day filled with missions. Almost every year, he missed the countdown and realized long after the fact, it was the beginning of a new year, and the Earth had completed yet another revolution around the sun. While he would normally be making his way back to a safe house to get a few hours of sleep before getting back to work, he would always pass the crowds of late night celebrants, drunk, rowdy, yet enviably joyous and enthusiastic. Twilight had long since written off New Year’s Eve and Day as holidays. What was the point of celebrating a new year? It wasn’t like people celebrated the beginning of a new day or week. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This year, though, would be different. It was the Forger family’s first New Years Eve together. It had almost slipped his mind until Yor brought it up the Monday after Christmas. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“New Years Eve?” he repeated after she mentioned it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yor nodded, while drying a plate. “Do you and Anya normally do something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Twilight paused scrubbing the pan he had in hand. “Not particularly. Anya and I stay in, have a quiet night.” He turned to her, “Do you celebrate with Yuri?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, but it’s nothing special. Yuri and I will usually just have dinner and watch the New Years special on TV.” Yor smiled, her eyes taking on a distant glint, most likely remembering fond childhood memories, he deduced. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We could invite Yuri over for dinner,” Twilight suggested. “It can be a small party.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yor’s eyes shined at his words, and Twilight couldn’t help but smile. “We could invite Frankie too,” she added. “It’ll be fun.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And that ended up being the contents of his official time off request. Twilight handed the papers to Sylvia. “It’s for the mission,” he deadpanned. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His handler sighed. “Really? New Years Eve?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Twilight nodded. “Yor and Anya will think it’s suspicious if I’m working even when it’s a national day off.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not that you don’t deserve a day off…” she trailed off, stamping the form. “Well, have a good New Years Eve with your family then, Twilight.” She put emphasis on a certain word.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With his time off now officially approved, and having a guarantee that WISE wouldn’t be contacting him, unless every other agent died, Twilight wrapped up the few missions he had left, giving him just enough free time to plan a New Years Eve dinner menu and complete the necessary grocery shopping. He put Yor and Anya in charge of cleaning and decorating the apartment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Twilight called Frankie to extend an official invitation to the Forger family New Years Eve festivities, Frankie was in a state of confusion. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What happened to your missions?” </span>
  <em>
    <span>What happened to workaholic Twilight? </span>
  </em>
  <span>was the actual question. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I took time off.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“For them?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“For the mission.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right. Sure. Yeah, I’ll come over. Should I bring anything?” </span>
  <em>
    <span>So, still the workaholic then, huh? </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Twilight had worked with Frankie enough to know what the other man was actually asking, but that didn’t mean he had to answer those questions. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yor, obviously, called Yuri to invite him. Twilight hadn’t witnessed that phone call, but he was sure Yuri, while eager to accept an invitation from his beloved sister, was also conflicted about having to also see his sister’s husband again. But, Yor later gave him many assurances that Yuri was so excited to come over and he wouldn’t act as strange this time. Loid Forger smiled at his wife and said something about looking forward to seeing his brother in law again. Twilight, on the other hand, could feel his premature headache forming. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The day of, Twilight got up, later than he had planned, but he was also not going to chide himself for sleeping in on a rare day off. While Yor and Anya cleaned and decorated, he prepped the turkey and some of the other sides. Time seemed to fly by, and before he knew it, Yor suggested he go shower and change, while she got Anya ready. It didn’t take him long to get ready, a casual pair of slacks, button up, and his not-favorite-favorite light blue sweater. Yor had mentioned once that this sweater in particular looked very nice on him. It wasn’t as if he remembered that and then put the sweater into a regular weekly rotation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frankie arrived a few minutes before seven, with two bottles of wine and a bag of peanuts in hand. Anya immediately dove for the peanuts, and Twilight added the two additional bottles to the several already placed on the counter. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frankie greeted Anya before turning back to Twilight. Frankie hadn’t accepted the invitation out of a sense of obligation, oh no, if anything, he was very interested to see how Twilight was faring with his family. Only a few months prior, Twilight had been the antithesis of a family man, and now, here he was cooking dinner and helping his daughter with her homework with all the patience required of a proper father. He wanted to see how far this act could realistically go.  He’d seen the cracks in Twilight’s facade, the way Twilight subconsciously smiled at Anya’s antics or repeatedly brought up Yor and Anya. Therefore, Frankie didn’t believe a single word of his claims that it was purely ‘for the mission’. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before either of them could say anything, Yor stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her. For a single second (and only a single second), Twilight was speechless. He hadn’t anticipated Yor going out of her way to dress up, and yet he shouldn’t have been surprised. She removed her trademark headband  and wore the earrings he and Anya gifted her. She had also, apparently, purchased a dress for the occasion, and instead of her regular black and red color palette, she had chosen a form fitting navy dress. Her dress highlighted certain things that Twilight took great care to avoid noticing on a daily basis, like her almost perfect hourglass figure-</span>
  <em>
    <span>shit, focus, Twilight</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he told himself. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frankie was the first to react. He whistled appreciatively. “You look great, Yor! This color is lovely on you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yor blushed. “Thank you, Frankie. I wasn’t planning on getting something new to wear, but, Anya insisted-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Anya excitedly cut her off. “Papa always wears blue, so I wanted me and Mama to match too.” Twilight realized quickly that Anya’s dress was also a shade of blue, both complementing his light blue sweater. Anyone seeing the three of them would have assumed it was a coordinated effort. Technically, it was, just not to his knowledge. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frankie placed his hand over his heart. “Well, isn’t that just the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard, huh, Loid?” There was something in his tone that was so punchable. Twilight mustered a smile, but internally groaned. It seemed Frankie’s chief objective, when it came to the Forger family, was to make sure Twilight lost every shred of dignity. One day, he would deal with Frankie. Today, sadly, was not that day. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Twilight could say anything, there was another knock at the door. Yor went over and opened it to find, unsurprisingly, the other Briar, with a bouquet as large as himself in hand. He was practically vibrating with excitement to see his sister again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Twilight thanked any and every god he had an emergency bottle of painkillers by his bedside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dinner, somehow, was a subdued affair. Yuri, probably having been scolded by Yor, was, for the most part, well behaved and polite, but only talked to him when necessary. Frankie carried most of the conversation, sharing stories of both his spy and non-spy customers. Twilight tried to be as cheery as possible, yet as much as he tried, he couldn’t relax, knowing there was a precarious balancing act happening right in front of him. If any of them said the wrong thing, there would be a crisis he wasn’t 100% confident he could talk himself out of. He had briefed Frankie as well as he could about Yuri. Yor and Anya were the wildcards, however. If either of them slipped up and mentioned something about their family’s arrangement, Yuri would probably immediately pick up on it. Twilight could not have that happen either. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was grateful when dinner finished and he and Yor went to the kitchen to do some brief cleaning up. Frankie and Yuri sat in the living room, making somewhat stilted small talk, Anya having abandoned both her ‘Uncles’ in favor of playing with Bond and Agent Penguin. Twilight didn’t blame her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next few hours passed by suspiciously calmly as well. Yor put Anya to bed a little before ten, as the young girl was falling asleep in front of the TV. Once she returned from tucking Anya in, Twilight changed the Spy Wars marathon that had been playing to the New Years special. There were the usual newscasters in front of a nameless ornamental building, accompanied by some popular entertainers. No one was particularly paying any attention. Frankie was doing his best to rile Yuri up with somewhat over the top and intrusive questions about his role at the “Foreign Ministry” and Yor was enjoying her personal bottle of wine and giggling at Yuri’s slowly growing annoyance. This was the most domestic New Years Eve Twilight had ever had, and it was a welcome experience. He was letting every minute sink into his memory. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before he knows it, it’s ten minutes to midnight, and Twilight, despite the frenzy of the evening, felt oddly at peace. He surveyed the haphazardly sleeping group around him. Franky was asleep in the armchair, glasses askew and noisemaker loosely grasped in hand. Yuri, likewise, was asleep on the opposite end of the sofa. Twilight couldn’t quite recall when Yuri’s tie had gone around his forehead, but he also couldn’t exactly begrudge his brother in law and fellow intelligence agent for relaxing on one night of the year. And then, Yor. Yor had tried her hardest to stay up, but the alcohol and the soft music in the background lulled her to sleep after two bottles. Her head was resting on his shoulder and she had her arm wrapped around his, as if to prevent him from leaving her side. He checked his watch. Six minutes until midnight. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He overheard the excited cheering and yelling outside, and it contrasted with the almost somber atmosphere inside the apartment. Of course, it doesn’t help that four out of five people were currently fast asleep. Twilight sighed and gently removed his arm from Yor’s. The two of them  had already put most of the food away, and he could save the rest of the clean up for tomorrow. He got up and stretched.  He hadn’t had a quiet moment like this to himself in a while. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Papa?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Twilight turned around to find Anya peeking out from her bedroom. “I thought you were sleeping?” he asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had the decency to look slightly sheepish. “The noises outside woke me up.” She rubbed her eyes. “Is it next year yet?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He checked his watch. Three minutes. “Almost.” He gestured to the window. “Do you want to look outside? I’m sure people will be lighting lanterns.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Anya nodded and ran over to him, her little footsteps echoing throughout the apartment. She held her arms up, and he complied, picking her up and securing her in his arms. It still amazed him exactly how small she was compared to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She beamed as he opened the window. “See?” He pointed down onto the street, where a group of young men and women were lighting paper lanterns. “They’re going to let those go and you’ll see them float by.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They write their wishes for next year, and then let them go, so hopefully the universe hears them.” It seemed like a rather hazardous tradition to him, and if he had to make a wish, he would rather just blow out a candle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the other hand, Anya was captivated and looked out the window in awe, “Can we do that next year?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before he could catch himself, Twilight found himself nodding. The two of them looked outside in silence, father and daughter simply taking in the excitement and energy out on the streets. The clock chimed and they could hear people shouting and cheering. It was a little different in the Forger household, but the sentiment was the same. “Happy New Year, Anya.” Twilight doesn’t know how many more there will be, if there will be more, but for right now, he ignored and enjoyed being Anya’s Papa</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Happy New Year, Papa!” Anya cheered, wrapping her arms around his neck in a clumsy hug. He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. He remembered Frankie’s words at the beginning of the mission, and it hit him that maybe Frankie had had a point. Part of being a spy was noticing the smallest details, and he obviously noticed everything about both Anya and Yor. It just amazed him how quickly Anya grew and continued forming her own opinions about the world around her, even if half of them were influenced by Spy Wars. There was a part of him that enjoyed noticing all these small details. The thought of whether he was still completely objective in his observations or some accidental affection had leaked into his thoughts never crossed his mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, let’s put you back to bed now.” Twilight returned Anya to her bed and tucked her. She barely managed a quick good night, falling asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow. He went back to the living and  sighed. He hadn’t anticipated all three of them falling asleep before midnight, though maybe he should have upon further reflection. Twilight considered leaving all three of them there, then decided he could at least take Yor to her room. She was his wife after all. Yor was curled up, almost like a cat, on the sofa. He knew from previous experience she was out like a light, and there was no point in trying to wake her up. It wasn’t like he had never carried to her bed before, it was just every time it felt oddly intimate, despite the fact it wasn’t out of the norm for a husband to carry his wife to bed. Even if they slept in separate beds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was only when he had Yor in his arms that he realized her door was locked. His options now were to either return her to the sofa or pick the lock of her room. Both were not ideal solutions, so he decided on the next best option- she could sleep in his bed, while he took the armchair. And even better, it would maintain their cover story in the morning. As he carefully opened the door to his room, he quickly checked to make sure he didn’t have anything potentially incriminating lying around. Satisfied that his secrets were safe for another day, he gently placed Yor in his bed. He wasn’t a stranger to having a beautiful woman in his bed, but Yor was different. After all, she </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>technically his wife, the person he had supposedly tied himself to for however long Operation Strix was. Twilight carefully covered her with the blanket and settled into the armchair. It wasn’t an ideal situation for him, but before he knew it, he fell asleep to the gentle rhythm of her breathing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next morning, Twilight woke up with a crick in his neck, unsurprising considering sleeping in an armchair wasn’t the most comfortable. Yor was sprawled all over his bed, blanket abandoned. The entire apartment was still silent, and once again, he was alone with his thoughts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Making his way into the living room, Twilight wondered what the best way to kick out Frankie and Yuri was without being obvious about it. The answer, though, came unexpectedly in the form of Bond, who was eager to find their guests still present. It only took half a liter of Bond slobber for both of them to wake up upset and then shortly after make their farewells. Yuri had been insistent on saying goodbye to Yor, and it only took Twilight reminding him she was asleep in his/their bed for Yuri to almost sprint out without his coat. Twilight’s cup of coffee, despite only having milk, tasted so sweet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Anya was still fast asleep and would probably remain asleep until either he or Yor  woke her up. That was fine though. He enjoyed the brief respite from being both Loid Forger and  Twilight. He was just another man, drinking his morning coffee and reading the newspaper. There wasn’t anything that would make it better, or so he thought. A few minutes later, Yor came out of his room, still half asleep it seemed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good morning, Yor. Happy new year.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looked over at him, “Oh, Loid. I-” She blushed. “Did Yuri and Frankie leave already?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He nodded, “You all fell asleep before midnight. I thought you might be more comfortable in the bed, though. Your room was locked, so I put you in mine.” He can see the relief wash across her face. “Can I make you a cup of tea?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, that would be nice, thank you.” She settled in the seat across from him, while he got up and prepared her tea. He returned and placed the tea in front of her. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Yor spoke up. “There isn’t too much of a mess. Should we just take care of it now?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Twilight found no reason to be opposed, and the two of them finished their respective beverages before looking around the apartment together. There wasn’t trash, but there were quite a few glasses and empty bottles scattered throughout. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As they pick up the empty glasses and bottles, Yor absentmindedly hummed one of the tunes from yesterday. “Wow, we went through a lot of wine,” she mentioned. While Twilight had partaken in a drink or two, he was still pretty sure the majority had been consumed by both the Briar siblings. “That was fun though,” Yor added. “Hopefully, we can do this again next year too.” She suddenly paused, considering her next words carefully. “I hope we can spend lots of New Years together with Anya in future.” The future. There was something bittersweet about that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nonetheless, he reassured her. “I’m looking forward to them, Yor.” She blushed and he felt only the smallest bit of delight at that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He knew their time was constrained by the length of Operation Strix, and yet, he still decided to promise both Anya and Yor future New Years. If he were honest with himself, and he rarely is, this was a promise there was no way he could keep. But, he would ignore that train of thought until it was no longer avoidable. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Later in the day, he’s reclining on the sofa, watching Yor play Spy Wars with Anya. They shared a laugh at Bond’s antics, and he found himself smiling involuntarily. Their laughs are a sound he’s obviously familiar with, and as usual it’s music to his ears. If he were to make a wish for the new year, he thought, it would be to keep hearing them laugh. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>sigh i think A LOT about how at some point the comfy forger family dynamic is gonna blow up and it makes me sad :'( so instead of focusing on happy thoughts, i write fics lol. also meant to post this way earlier but the discord server shenanigans had me out of commission for like half the day.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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